The benefits of recycling products made from certain materials is well known. For example, the recycling of plastic products and aluminum cans has become common place. The recycling of these products helps to protect the environment, conserve energy and provide recycled materials to produce new products. In contrast, the recycling of scrap tires is currently in its infancy. Scrap tires are a significant problem in many countries, including the United States which accumulates more than 250 million scrap tires annually. As used throughout this specification the term xe2x80x9cscrap tirexe2x80x9d is defined as a whole worn out or damaged tire before any processing. In the past, scrap tires were buried in landfills with other waste. Today scrap tires are banned from landfills. In the past several years companies have cut and processed scrap tires into what is referred to as xe2x80x9ctire chips.xe2x80x9d Tire chips are used to create tire derived fuel, (TDF) which can be burned for energy and is being used in cement kilns and other power generation uses. Throughout this specification the term xe2x80x9ctire shredxe2x80x9d is defined as the first cutting of whole scrap tires into tire shreds which generally are large pieces approximately 2xc3x972 square inches with the steel, wire, nylon, and textile remaining in the tire shreds. Throughout this specification the term xe2x80x9ctire chipxe2x80x9d is defined as further cutting of the tire shred and for the product TDF, the dimensions are generally 1xc3x971 inch with the steel, wire, nylon, and textile remaining in the tire chip. Like coal, however, TDF is a dirty fuel and has met with resistance from the environmental sector. In recent years recycled scrap tires have also been processed into what is referred to as xe2x80x9ccrumb rubber.xe2x80x9d Throughout this specification the term xe2x80x9ccrumb rubberxe2x80x9d is defined as further size reduction of scrap tires into small mesh sizes with the steel, wire, nylon, and textile having been removed. A popular size of crumb rubber is 10/30 mesh which is currently being used as an ingridient in rubberized asphalt road construction. Crumb rubber is also used in the rubber molding industry to manufacture such products as rubber mats, wheel chalks, traffic cone bases, pick-up bed liners, and mud guards.
One object of the present invention was to develop a molding material using recycled scrap tires that can be used to mold a wide variety of commercial products.
The present invention is a commercial product made from whole scrap tires and recycled plastic and a process for manufacturing the same. In one embodiment, the product is that of a commercial pallet used for storing and transporting commodities, goods and items that is made from a combination of recycled scrap tire material, and recycled plastic material. The pallet comprises a plurality of recycled tire particles having different surface areas, a plurality of recycled plastic flakes having different surface areas, and a bonding agent coating all of the surface area of the tire particles and plastic flakes. The combination of recycled tire particles and recycled plastic flakes having different surface areas and the bonding agent makes a strong and durable pallet. The present invention is also a process for manufacturing a pallet from a combination of recycled tire particles and recycled plastic flakes which in one embodiment comprises the steps of: creating a mixture of a plurality of different sized recycled tire particles and a plurality of recycled plastic flakes; adding a bonding agent to the mixture to thereby coat all surfaces of the different sized recycled tire particles and the different sized recycled plastic flake and to provide a molding material; transferring the molding material into molds by weight measurement which correspond to pallet components; applying heat and pressure for a period of time within the mold; and extracting the parts from the mold and press and allowing it to continue to cure for a predetermined length of time prior to the parts being assembled into finished pallets.